LONDON: The UK Government has announced a new refugee policy under which the renewal of refugee status will become conditional.
The British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood stated that the refugee situation in the UK has become extraordinarily difficult to handle and that the new policy is intended to make the system more efficient by fleet and regulation.
According to the newly adopted scheme, refugees will be obliged to reside in the UK for a minimum of 20 years before they will be eligible to apply for a permanent residence permit.
In response to the rapidly growing number of refugees and the resulting problems, the Home Secretary made it clear that this measure was taken as a direct reaction and is intended to address these issues in a lawful and orderly manner.
The changes will have a very strong effect on the refugees since they will need to meet new standards in order to be allowed to renew their status. Moreover, those who want to get permanent residency will be required to attest that they have lived in the country for a considerable time.
The decision is seen as a landmark in the UK’s refugee policy, which shows the government’s efforts to streamline asylum and immigration processes.
Canada mulls mass cancellation of temporary visas for Indian nationals
According to Indian media, the Canadian government is mulling over giving its immigration department the authority to mass-cancel temporary visa applications, a gesture that can considerably raise the stakes of applicants in India and Bangladesh.
There were local reports in Canada to the effect that the two agencies: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have after their discussion come to a conclusion that they need legal authority for single-case broad simultaneous revocation of visas instead of individual cancellation in the case of a large-scale fraud or misuse.
Official documents disclose that according to the proposed policy, Canada, in fact, can be allowed to collectively cancel visas if they identify special circumstances like fraud, war, or a pandemic. As such, the immigration ministry will have the power to quickly take legal action in the case of systemic issue occurrence.
Moreover, it was reported that apart from sources that have disclosed the creation of a working group visa cancellation and rejection mechanisms enhancement by Canadian and U.S. officials, they say the same group formed that is investigating the different ways to collaborate and build more robust mechanisms.
As far as draft policy is concerned, it doesn’t specify any country directly, but the Canadian media choose to interpret the phrase “countries with particular challenges” as internal reference to India and Bangladesh.
The debate is taking place against the background of an uptrend in asylum requests by nationals of India and the rise of cases of fraudulent visa applications. The authorities are said to be scrutinizing the temporary visa system for the purpose of ensuring the tightening of verifications and the prevention of misuse.
